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The World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies on Friday called on governments to prioritize seafarers and aircrews in their COVID-19 vaccination programs, saying their safe movement is essential to movement. and critical goods travel on which the global economy depends for recovery.
“For maritime and air transport to continue to operate safely, the safe cross-border movement of seafarers and air crews must be facilitated. We reiterate our call to countries that have not done so to designate seafarers and air crews as key workers, ”says the joint statement, signed by the heads of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Organization International Labor Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the International Organization for Migration and the World Health Organization (WHO). “Seafarers and aircrew must be protected by vaccination as soon as possible to facilitate their safe movement across borders.”
At least 53 member states have designated seafarers as key workers, a critical step to exempt them from certain COVID-related travel restrictions so they can travel between their country of residence and ships and be repatriated at the end of their contracts. The crew crisis has lasted a full year and an estimated 400,000 seafarers are stranded at sea or at home and unable to join ships due to border closures. The crew members have complained of the strain on their mental health and finances if they cannot get onto a ship to win a paycheck.
More than 80% of world trade by volume is moved by maritime transport and there are around 2 million seafarers. Passenger airlines carried around 5.7 billion passengers in 2019 and air freight accounts for more than a third of the value of goods shipped by all modes. The total number of licensed aviation professionals, including pilots, air traffic controllers and licensed maintenance technicians, was 887,000 in 2019, according to ICAO. The numbers are lower now because airlines have downsized and laid off tens of thousands of workers to save cash during the travel recession.
The application of strict public health regulations to aircrews has hampered connectivity and increased complexity and operational costs. COVID is compounding massive shipping delays because many ports have fewer dockworkers available due to social distancing requirements and illness. Many port and industrial officials have called on governments to treat longshoremen as essential workers also for vaccination purposes.
The challenges for pilots and airlines are highlighted by the situation in Hong Kong, where arriving aircrews who are domiciled in the city must be quarantined for two weeks. That limits the availability of pilots who can fly passenger and cargo planes. Cathay Pacific has said its cargo capacity has been reduced by 25% due to the rule and FedEx experienced significant cost to relocate crews to San Francisco and deal with delays at its hub within Asia.
Pilots on short stopovers must test negative upon arrival, but are now being held at the airport for several hours until COVID test results are obtained. Pilots who test positive or are suspected of being in contact with an infected person are taken to large facilities where they are kept in quarantine in groups of people. Many pilots complain that the conditions are uncomfortable and could lead to the transmission of COVID.
The WHO has, at the present time, recommended against proof of vaccination requirements for international travel as a condition of entry, as there are still unknowns about the efficacy of vaccination to reduce transmission and the limited availability of vaccines. The organizations support the development of a harmonized international framework for digital vaccination certificates to facilitate international travel for seafarers and aircrews.
Click here to see more stories from Eric Kulisch’s American Shipper / FreightWaves.
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